I received a lot of submissions this month to be the featured artist on my blog for July. This month's Featured Artist is a customer and new email buddy of mine...Susan Byington! Susan submitted work to me right after she got home from vacation. As you know, that is a crazy time when you get back - unpacking, doing laundry, etc. Sue was dedicated to submitting photos of her projects for the contest and I won't tell you what time she sent a lot of her photos - let's just say we all are usually deep in sleep for a very l-o-n-g time at the hour she submitted some of her photos:))
When Susan was done submitting her photos, I had the tough job of trying to narrow down the selections and showcase a good selection of what she submitted here. It certainly wasn't easy to chose because I really liked many of the samples. I tried to choose a nice variety and also pick samples that might be a little different than what you had seen before.
Susan was so excited to find out that she was this month's featured artist! I think it would be kind of neat to leave her comments on her projects and this article at the bottom of this post.
So, on to some photos! This first photo is of Susan's 3-D submission. It consists of a gift bag, bookmark and card. The set is really adorable. Sue used glitter to accentuate the balloons and put us in the "party spirit".
Susan also submitted a number of her card creations. I have captured just a small showcasing of them. The first card is one that Susan first saw on my blog when I posted a photo of a swap card that i received at a demonstrator event I attended. Susan was determined to figure out how to make the card and came up with this version for her submission. I love the addition of the flower in the center!
I really like this next sample because Susan created a peek-a-boo window using the scallop circle punch in the center of her card to show off her flower on the inside.
This is a photo showing the card opened up so that you can see the window a little better. Making the front flap of the card a little smaller is a nice idea to make your card a little different and be even more unique!
Before I add any more photos, it would be nice for you to get to know a little bit more about Susan. Check out what she has to say below:
Name: Suan Byington from O'Fallon, MO.
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family: I tend to burn the candle at both ends until it "breaks in the middle". My full-time job is my family with my husband Jay and 3 kids - Sarah 20, Adam 17 and Zach 12. I have two birds, three cats, one beautiful little Maltese dog and a tank full of fish. I love animals. My dad calls us the "Byington Zoo". I am working on landscaping flower beds and have a thriving wildflower garden in the back! I work out with a trainer three times a week and try really hard to eat healthy. I have lost over 45 pounds since March 1, 2007 and plan to continue my efforts. I am 45 years old and don't like the aches and pains of aging:)) I also work 3 days a week for a photographer taking care of customers and managing all the "little things". In the fall, I will spend every weekend watching my boys play football and soccer.
How long have you been rubber stamping or scrapbooking? I don't scrapbook. In fact, I am terrible about organizing or even developing my pictures. Yes, I still use real film in my camera! My family thinks I need to step into the digital age, but my little camera takes great pictures! I'm just bad about the follow-through and organizing. I do love to make cards, though. I started about 10 years ago.
What is your favorite technique or type of stamping? Anything that looks cool and makes the card special!
What are some of your favorite things (stamping or non-stamping related)? Musicals, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Old TV shows like I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched, Winnie-the-Pooh, camping (ooooh the campfire!) the beach & water, books and God's Amazing Creation.
What tip(s) would you like to give other stampers - something you learned the hard way and wish you knew about first and/or something you just learned and thought it was neat? Don't throw away scraps. It feels great to create a card out of leftover scraps (and sometimes challenging!).
How were you introduced to stamping? My Aunt Phyllis really got me started about 10 years ago. She would always send the most AMAZING CARDS and I just couldn't believe she actually MADE them. She invited me to a Stampin' Up! workshop and I was very skeptical. Anything that looked that cool couldn't be easy to do. It was the first time I had taken this route to her house and got terribly lost. By the time I got there the workshop was over, but the demonstrator took the time to sit down with me and show me the things they had done and actually taught me how to create something and I was sold! My first order was a black ink pad, some markers, white cardstock and a couple of stamp sets. I still use those stamp sets. (I never get rid of any stamps.) All my cards were very simple, but it was fun. The last few years I have been attending stamp classes when I could and trying to learn how to copy well. I am finally learning how to put different ideas and techniques from other people together to create my own images. It has taken a long time and I never sent anything without a critique from my family first. If I don't get an enthusiastic thumbs up from them, I play with the card some more until it is "mail worthy".
Something you would like people to know about you: I used to train and show Maltese in the obedience ring. Now I just train my children. 
What you love most about stamping? IT IS GREAT THERAPY FOR ME and (hopefully) makes others feel good when they receive the finished product. I think there is therapy in making someone else feel good, as well as the craft itself.
Here are a few more of Susan's creations:
This card is a fun one and Susan tells me that this card has a 3-D effect to it as well. This is how she describes it ~ and I quote:)) "To make that card, I actually used glossy white cardstock and stamped the image multiple times in the various colors. Then cut out all the sections of the image and mounted them with dimensionals over the Always Artichoke. Always Artichoke is actually the base color. It had to be an exact fit! The effect was cool! " If you look carefully at the card, you can actually see a little of that 3-D effect that she is talking about.
I think that this card is just adorable. Sue created her own background on the cardstock by stamping flowers randomly all around. The little 'friends' are stamped and then colored in. I loved this stamp set when it was out. It is now retired, but these little girls are so stinkin' cute:))
I hope you enjoyed this month's Featured Artist showcase. Don't forget to leave Susan a comment under the post to let her know what you think of this article!
Lynn
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